Moments
by maddysicepalace
Summary: "None of her books prepared her for Kristoff, not a single one. And though Anna wasn't one to prepare for anything, some guidance sure would've been useful in helping her keep her composure whenever things got a little too... suggestive."


Disclaimer: I own nothing in regards to Disney's Frozen and all the rights of the characters, dialogue, etc belong to the Disney Company!

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_Moments_

Anna tried to be a lot of things. Smart, witty, funny. Poised, elegant, regal. Some she was good at, some she wasn't, and she was totally okay with that. Perfectly fine. But one thing Anna always tried to be was open-minded - to new opportunities, new activities, and new people.

And there was a certain new person in her life, and he'd been in her life for two months now, and though she found she didn't have to try much at all with him there was still one thing she was trying so very much to be.

Which was coy.

You see, she'd read about men all her life. Who could blame her? Locked up in a castle for most of her growing years, she'd barely ever seen a boy. On the rare chance her mother and father invited guests into their kingdom, the only princes she'd seen were short and skinny and hadn't even reached puberty. So she resorted to books, where words were strung to create images of tall, handsome and fair princes in her mind. With dazzling smiles and perfect manners and a strong arm for her to hold on to.

She grew up thinking that was the type of man she'd be attracted to. The type of man she wanted to court, to marry, to start a family with. But oh no no, how wrong she was.

None of her books prepared her for Kristoff, not a single one. And though Anna wasn't one to prepare for anything, some guidance sure would've been useful in helping her keep her composure whenever things got a little too... suggestive.

To put it bluntly, Kristoff was hard to be around sometimes. He was the complete opposite of how her books described a man should be. He kept his hair messy, he always had a little bit of stubble along his jaw, and there were days where he smelled absolutely repulsive. But he had the most dangerous crooked smile, eyes that set fire to her from across the room, calloused fingertips that roughed across her skin and made it hard for her to breathe. Of course Anna would never reduce a man to his looks or body...

... but Kristoff just happened to be the perfect package.

Little bit too perfect, to be honest. It was becoming a problem.

Anna leant into her hand, elbow propped up on the kitchen counter. Earlier Anna had made it apparent to Kristoff of her sudden craving for chocolate chip cookies, to which he responded, "Well, why don't we just make some?"

Though she'd grown up in this castle, her ideal way of working around the kitchen was a guessing and hoping. There was just too much stuff for her to wrap her mind around, so when he asked her where the bowls were, the ingredients, the utensils, all she could offer was a sheepish smile and a shrug of her shoulders.

But they had managed just fine. Anna sat at the counter, watching Kristoff as he haphazardly followed a recipe he found in the stacks of books that lined one side of the pantry. He looked so focused, so determined, his tongue was even sticking out the side of his mouth a little bit. Occasionally he'd lean over and interrupt her unashamed attack on the bag of chocolate chips in front of her to ask her to read words he struggled with.

"That says 'caramelized'." Anna told him, popping another chip into her mouth.

"Never heard of that word in my life."

"Really? It means to like, cook sugar in a pan. But that's only if you want to make a special dipping sauce." She pushed his hand away and pointed to where the recipe said that. "I'm not too fussed or brave enough to try that."

"Nope, you're just happy to sit there and let me do everything." Kristoff said, stepping back to the bowl of cookie batter and giving her a sly smile.

"Guilty as charged." Anna tried to look just as admonished until he grabbed the chocolates away from her, then she just looked appalled.

"We need these, remember?" He told her, pouring the chips into the bowl. She watched as he used a spatula to mix them in.

It was odd seeing Kristoff in the kitchen, even weirder to see him attempt to bake for her. Kristoff Bjorgman, hardened man of the mountains, ice harvester since the age of eight, reduced to what was known as a very effeminate activity. It humbled him, in Anna's eyes. She was learning something new about him every day.

Plus he looked pretty cute in the apron she'd made him wear.

"Here, make yourself useful." Kristoff said, pushing the bowl of batter towards her. "It says to make them into little balls."

"Ahh, I remember this part." Anna said, plucking out some batter and rolled it between her palms. Kristoff disappeared for a moment and returned with a tray. "Didn't know you had this hidden talent, Kristoff."

He laughed, a charmingly boyish sound. "I wouldn't say that just yet." Kristoff tried copying her rolling technique. Little big, little lopsided, but it would do.

"Any cookie is a good cookie. Except when it's raisins, don't ever make me raisin cookies." Anna said, showing Kristoff how to roll the batter together once more. Now he was getting it.

"I'll keep that in mind." Kristoff smiled, that same crooked grin she always imagined him with. Suddenly his eyes dropped and were trained on her mouth. "You have a little -"

" - chocolate? Thought so." She rolled her eyes, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "Gone?"

"Not quite, it's just -"

"How 'bout now?"

"No, just -"

"Now?"

"Just stay still!" Kristoff laughed again, gently taking her hands away from her face. Anna fell silent as he raised his thumb to her mouth and carefully dragged it across the edge of her lower lip. The sensation left her feeling tingly, and curiously she raised her gaze to look at Kristoff. He was close, that same look of focus in his amber-coloured eyes, until he noticed her looking at him. Alone together, late at night, Kristoff's fingers on her lips and their gaze holding strong.

It was amazing to Anna how a playful interaction could attract this amount of electricity between them so quickly. Warmth swelled in her stomach, warmth that made her want to lean forward and do something reckless, something dangerous.

But he smiled, ran his thumb over her lips once more, and that was all it took for Anna to lose any courage she might've gained in that small moment.

"I just remembered!" Anna almost shouted, practically flying off her stool. "Didn't turn the oven on, don't want to wait forever to bake these, right?"

Kristoff stood back, trying his best to look casual. "Right."

A chorus of fake giggles accompanied her quick walk to the oven. With her back to Kristoff she felt all kinds of embarrassed, her whole face raged red and she sighed inwardly. _Good one Anna_, she thought as she turned the oven dial.

She wanted so much to make moments like those count, and make them special. Instead she chickened out before anything meaningful could happen. Anna liked Kristoff a lot, so much in fact that it made her nervous. He was so good to her and she wanted to be just as good back, and she wanted to show him that too. But lately the butterflies were taking over her brain as well as her heart, and any words she tried to string together fell apart whenever the two shared so much as a look.

Anna wanted to be like the girls in the books she read (the ones that made Elsa scoff at her whenever she caught her reading them). The girls who could keep their cool when a boy touched them, girls that would make the first move, girls that got to have the most amazing, impassioned moments. Safe to say Anna was insanely jealous.

"Anna, those books aren't exactly accurate." Elsa had told her the morning after her failed 'moment'.

"But they're so..." Anna made a pained expression, clutched her heart with her hands, "they just make you want it for yourself, you know?"

"Not really, but I can imagine." Elsa said honestly, leaning over and placing a hand on her sisters arm. "You and Kristoff will make your own moments, and they won't be defined by any book."

Anna nodded. That was true. "But I can't make those moments if I chicken out."

"Moments aren't planned, Anna, that's what makes them so special." Elsa said, offering Anna a very knowing, very sister-like smile. While Elsa was right, but that didn't mean Anna was happy about it.

Every time Anna freaked out with Kristoff, like she did last night, she always expected it to be awkward the next day. And every time Anna was pleasantly surprised. It was natural, like breathing. Being with Kristoff was like being with someone she'd known all her life, of course without the whole knowing-everything-about-them aspect.

"There's so many hidden gems in this town." Anna said to him as they walked along the grass. For a crisp autumn day it was surprisingly sunny, and they thought they would make the most of it. Kristoff had asked Elsa if she wanted to join them but she told them she had a meeting to attend, but once Kristoff's back was turned Elsa had winked.

"Like what?"

"What do you mean 'like what'? Like this!" Anna said, gesturing out towards here. They were on the outskirts of town where houses were far and few between, and rightly so. The ground was made up of grassy hills that all sloped towards a small creek, which ran in from the ocean and into the forest that surrounded Arendelle. From a top this hill the sea breeze was pushing the hair back from her face and picking up the fallen leaves around them. "It's just so tranquil, so peaceful."

"Yeah, yeah I guess so." Kristoff said, hands on his hips in his usual stance. Anna scoffed, pushing his shoulder.

"Show some enthusiasm for once." Anna teased.

"Fine. Last one to the creek has to buy dinner." Kristoff said, and before she could respond he darted down the hill.

Anna laughed as she chased after him, even letting her flat shoes slide along the tall grass. She'd almost caught up with him when she tripped, and went tumbling the rest of the way. A couple unorthodox somersaults later and Anna was half in the creek and praying that the gods would just leave her here to die. Though not surprising, this was utterly embarrassing.

"Anna! Are you okay?" She heard Kristoff call, heard him jog over and infiltrate her vision. All Anna could do was groan. It was very cold in this creek.

"Looks like you have to buy me dinner." Anna mumbled, dragging herself out and sitting on the bank.

"Shit Anna, you're bleeding." Kristoff said, suddenly sounding very concerned. She could tell that just before he was trying to choke back his laughter, and now he knelt in front of her looking more serious than she'd ever seen him.

"Where?" Anna asked, raising her hand up to palm her face. He caught her wrist before she could.

"Just above your eyebrow, but don't touch it." Kristoff told her. One of his hands cupped her jaw, and he raised the other to push her hair back and examine the wound. "Doesn't look too deep, you may have just hit a rock or something."

He produced a handkerchief from his pocket and carefully placed it against her eyebrow. Anna hissed and shut her eyes. "Oh come on, it can't be that bad."

She opened her mouth to shoot back a retort, but nothing came to mind when she noticed how close he was again. Another wore another one of his boyish grins, had that joking but doting glint in his eyes, and rough but gentle hands cradled her face. Anna swallowed hard as she felt the electricity between them once more.

Anna could feel herself leaning in, could feel her eyes closing, and she thought she saw Kristoff leaning in as well.

And then his hand slipped, sending a wave of pain through her face and leaving Anna swearing under her breath.

"Sorry! Sorry, sorry." Kristoff said quickly, unsure of where to put his hands. She could already see the blush staining his cheeks, and he was trying hard not to look at her. "We better go get that cleaned out."

Another moment that could've been, but Anna felt a little better knowing that maybe she wasn't the only one who was nervous.

After dinner, and after Kristoff had left to return to his home in the village, Anna lay in her bed and laid her thoughts out in front of her. There was always something that kept them from taking that final step. There was always that pause, that instant between them where it was a split-second decision as to what to do next. And they always left it too long.

Anna hadn't the slightest idea why she was getting so frustrated over kissing a boy. Didn't know why she cared so much about making it the perfect moment. It was probably something she was trying to make up for, what with the events a couple months ago. She wanted to be sure about this, but Kristoff was more than a device to see the fireworks her books described. He was her friend before anything else. Her friend that made her smile like no one else, made her laugh until her cheeks hurt, and tied her stomach in knots.

_And if he makes you see stars already, kissing is just a bonus, _Anna thought.

She just needed to chill out and let things happen the way they were supposed to. And though she was never very good at that, she was going to give it her best shot. She remembered their first kiss vividly. Short, but sweet, and the best thing about it was it was completely their own. Kristoff's stammering, her speechlessness, but once they came together it was pure instinct. It made her toes curl just thinking about it, and she had to move to muffle her uncontrollable giggles in the pillows next to her. Anna went to bed excited to start fresh, excited to let their natural progression work its magic.

That excitement soon turned to worry when she didn't see Kristoff for the next two days.

"Do you think he's avoiding me? Do you think he's weirded out? Maybe he's finally done, maybe he's realised that this is too much - I'm too much! What if he's - "

Elsa shoved a piece of croissant in Anna's mouth. "You're blowing this way out of proportion. He's probably just busy."

"But we usually see each other every day!" Anna told her, pushing her breakfast plate away from her. "What else could he possibly be doing?"

Elsa raised her eyebrows. "You do realise this man runs his own business, correct?"

"Yeah." Anna grumbled. She knew where this was going.

"Be a little patient, Anna. With the harvesting season almost over he must have a lot of loose-ends to tie up."

"What if I told you I wanted to go see him tonight?"

Elsa shook her head in disapproval, but Anna could see her smile creeping around. "I would say that is the opposite of being patient."

"But...?"

"But I'm not stopping you." Elsa said. That's as much approval as she was getting from her sister.

After dinner, Anna grabbed her cloak and set off out the gates. The kingdom was always the prettiest at night. The moon lit up the fjord, and matched with the lanterns that lined the streets the light was a contrast to the refreshing chill that bit through her cloak. Most of Arendelle's citizens had settled down for the night, so her journey through the town was largely uninterrupted.

"Only problem is..." Anna said to herself, spying down street after street, "...which house is it."

She had been outraged at Kristoff's reluctance to show her his home in the town. He described it as small, old and disappointing. On the contrary, Anna saw the cabin's in the town as cosy, humble and warm. Sometime's the castle got too big for her, even after living in it all her life. Kristoff's little cabin sounded like heaven.

He'd vaguely told her where it was. On the outskirts, close to the mountains surrounding, didn't get much sun. She wandered down a court that was particularly secluded from the others - that sounded like Kristoff's style. The court was made up of six cabins, and all the lights were on except for the one at the end. _Bingo_, Anna thought.

She approached the cabin slowly and inspected it from afar. Oh god, what was she doing? If he hadn't been to the castle in two days he probably didn't want to see her! And now she was showing up unannounced at what she was _guessing_ was his house? That would make her look so stupid.

But she was here now. As she walked up to the door she noticed how dark the house looked. Very empty. Maybe he wasn't even home, maybe this wasn't even this house. She knocked once, then twice. Looked through the windows. No answer.

"You trying to rob me?"

Anna screamed and whirled around. Kristoff stood before her, Sven by his side and sled in tow behind them. He was dressed in an edited version of his harvesting gear, with his tunic wrapped around his waist and a dark coloured undershirt that seemed inappropriate for the autumn chill. His hair was a mess (more than usual), his cheeks were red, and he looked utterly exhausted.

"You scared the crap out of me." Anna told him, trying to compose herself. She probably woken up the whole neighbourhood.

"Same, until I realised it was you."

"Rude. I can be scary." Anna said, indignantly placing her hands on her hips.

Kristoff snorted and shook his head. Well, he didn't look unhappy to see her. In fact, things seemed to be going well. Anna through her earlier worries away and focused on the now.

"So..." Anna began, following him around to the side of his house where he had a makeshift pen for Sven.

"I know what you're going to ask." Kristoff said to her from over his shoulder. Once he had untied Sven from the sled and tossed him a few carrots, made sure there was enough straw for a comfy bed, the reindeer was curled up in the corner and quickly drifting off to sleep.

"And what's that?"

"Where I've been."

"Well, I think I can guess." Anna said, gesturing to his clothes. He looked down as if he'd forgotten what he was wearing.

"Oh, right." Kristoff laughed, suddenly self conscious. He tried to pat down his hair and make himself look more presentable, but there was not much he could do. But Anna didn't have any complaints. He grabbed a few bags from the sled and headed for the door, motioning for her to follow.

"So you're finally inviting me in." Anna offered him a sly smile, to which he rolled his eyes.

"Not like you gave me much choice."

"What do you mean? You could always tell me to get lost."

Kristoff shrugged, unlocking the door. "That would be very stupid of me."

Her heart skipped a beat, and she grinned a little wider than she'd anticipated. "Now I'm warning you, you're not going to be impressed." He said, pushing the door open and stepping in. He turned on a few oil lamps as he moved through. The space only really needed two to light up the place.

Kristoff was right, there wasn't much to it. There were two chairs in front of the fireplace to the right, a small kitchen sink and counter to the left, and the archway in front of her lead where she presumed his bed is. It was simple, but that was Kristoff.

Kristoff dumped his bags by the door and started on getting the fire going. Anna wandered over, and sat on the edge of one of the chairs. "I thought harvesting was mostly over for you."

"It was, but there was a bit of an accident with a broken sled halfway down the mountain and a buddy of mine needed some help carting his ice down." Kristoff threw a bit of pine in the fire for some extra flare, and suddenly the whole room was overwhelmed with the scent. But it was good. It just clicked that pine is what Kristoff smelt like most of the time.

"That was nice of you. I didn't know you had buddies." Anna said, eyes following him as he flitted around the small space.

"Oh, you wound me." Kristoff gasped, clutching his chest. "We harvest at the same spot more often than not. He'll owe me later on."

Anna nodded. So Elsa was right, something had come up. He was up in the mountains helping his friend out, and he in no way was avoiding her and there was nothing weird between them. She would've sighed in relief had he not been looking at her.

"So why are you here?" Kristoff asked. She blushed under his gaze. "Didn't think Elsa let you out this late."

Anna scoffed as she stood up and folded her arms across her chest. "Elsa isn't the boss of me."

"She's just the boss of all of Arendelle."

"Well yes duh - but that doesn't mean she cares if I go out or not, especially if I have a good reason."

"And I'm that good reason?" Kristoff asked, leaning on the archway between the two rooms.

Anna turned her eyes to the floor. He just loved to see her squirm, didn't he? "I guess you are."

They shared a smile as a silence fell over them. Here is where her heart would start beating fast, she'd start to panic, or she'd flee altogether. But the quiet was nice. It gave her time to breathe.

"Come look at this." Kristoff had moved deeper into his bedroom, beckoning her over. She followed him to the small bedroom window. She tried not to notice how close they had to be to share the window pane. Though the cabin was small, it packed an intense view. Guarded close to the mountain the window offered views of a cove that ran deep towards the land. Anna had no idea they were so close to the water. With the moon so conveniently positioned it was picturesque - every ripple in the cove sparkled.

"That is incredible." Anna mumbled, pressing her hands against the cool glass.

"Yeah, it is." He agreed. He was so tall above her she had to tilt her head to just look him in the eyes. It made him laugh, which made her laugh as well.

Then there it was again. The same electricity she felt with him time and time again. Except this time, when Kristoff raised his hand and brushed the hair back from her face, she didn't hesitate. She stood on her tippy toes, placed her hands on his shoulders and kissed him. And he kissed her back.

It was like coming home after a long journey. And it was slow, and gentle, and so full of meaning. This was how they always should've been, with Kristoff tilting her head to kiss her deeper, his hands strong and roaming against her back, her fingers buried in the hair at the base of his neck. It was a dance they had mastered without knowing.

When Anna pulled back, she was all kinds of breathless. "We just had our moment."

He didn't look confused, didn't raise his eyebrows, he just smiled and softly said, "We can have another one if you want."

And they did, sharing moment after moment until they fell asleep in against each other.

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**A/N:** Thank you for reading, please leave me your thoughts x


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